


something always brings me back to you (it never takes too long)

by bestthreemonths



Series: pdxverse [2]
Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 15:07:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7392214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bestthreemonths/pseuds/bestthreemonths
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being with Kelley is like floating on air, but eventually Alex has to come down to earth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	something always brings me back to you (it never takes too long)

The first time Alex sees Kelley is when Tobin moves into the apartment she used to share with Ashlyn. Alex had been to Tobin’s apartment before, but Kelley was never around, and Tobin certainly hadn’t told her how good-looking she was.

It’s clear to Alex within thirty seconds of meeting Alex, however, that Kelley knows she’s hot. She takes any chance she gets to stretch out so her shirt rides up, even lifting the hem to wipe her sweat after carrying boxes up the stairs. When she pulls it back down, Alex doesn’t have the time to pick her jaw up off the floor and pretend she wasn’t practically drooling, and Kelley smirks, fully aware she has her in the palm of her hand.

And that’s where she’s remained ever since.

Their first date is really by accident. It’s supposed to be a group hang, but Tobin got saddled with a midnight deadline at work and forgot to tell Kelley, who shows up at their apartment nine minutes late (never ten—if Kelley is ten or more minutes late, chances are she isn’t coming).

When Alex opens the door, she’s dressed in her pajamas and has her hair in a messy bun, and she looks genuinely shocked to see Kelley.

“Uh, hi,” Alex says.

“Are you guys ready?” Kelley asks, even though it’s obvious Alex isn’t.

“Tobin’s working,” Alex says. “Did she not—”

“No,” Kelley replies, but her exterior doesn’t falter. “I guess we’ll get a table for two, then.”

So that’s what they do. Kelley sits on Alex’s bed, chatting away while Alex picks out clothes and puts on makeup, only complaining a few times about how hungry she is.

Kelley drives to the restaurant, Andina, which Alex has never been to, but Kelley assures her it’s amazing. And it is, though Alex balks at the prices on the menu and blushes in the candlelight when Kelley says she’d never pass up the opportunity to buy a beautiful girl dinner.

They eat and drink wine and laugh and “accidentally” brush legs under the table and hands on their way back to the car. It feels every bit the first date, even though neither one of them anticipated it.

Kelley seals the deal when they get back to Alex’s apartment by leaning in for a kiss—slowly, so Alex has the chance to pull away (she doesn’t)—and resting her fingers ever so softly on her hips as Alex makes the first move to deepen it.

Maybe things would have been different if they'd stopped there, let the air of mystery remain heavy between them, ended the night with a perfect first kiss, but they don't. They end the night tangled and breathless in Alex’s bed, neither one of them daring to break the silence.

The next morning, Kelley is gone when Alex wakes up, and Alex is humiliated before she sees the note on the pillow beside her.

“You looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you. I had a great time last night, and I'd love to do it again soon. Second date? -Kelley”

She had scribbled her phone number almost as an afterthought, and Alex waits the appropriate amount of time (two hours, as long as she can stand) to text her a breezy message. The first note Kelley wrote her is still in Alex’s bedside table, and she pulls it out less often these days, but it still fills her with the same rush of excitement.

~

The funniest part about hooking up with Kelley is how oblivious Tobin is to the whole thing. They never intended to sneak around, but it becomes a running joke to see how long they can keep her in the dark.

Kelley “slips up” to see how far they can go without Tobin catching on, and it's surprisingly far. One time she asks Alex who slept over the night before and why Kelley left her shoes there in the same breath without putting two and two together.

It takes her actually walking in on Kelley and Alex in the guest bathroom at a house party at Ali and Ashlyn’s for Tobin to figure it out, and even then she assumes it's the first time it's ever happened till they tell her differently.

Once she knows, she's their number one fan. It's a dream come true to have your two best friends become best friends—well, a little more than that—at least until things get messy.

It starts with a nasty fight where Alex (who does a poor job of pretending she doesn't want to be in a relationship) makes a snide comment about Kelley being “pretty much a prostitute” when Kelley bails on a girls’ night out in favor of a “business dinner.” Kelley calls her out, saying she knew what she was getting into and it's not Kelley’s fault Alex can't handle it.

It's the first time Alex gets “I'm sorry” flowers sent to her at work, but certainly not the last.

~

Alex isn't a crier. In fact, if you asked her college friends, they would have described her as the least emotional person they knew. So why, then, is she crying for the third time this week, this time in the bathroom with the shower running so Tobin can't hear?

Her phone sounds its text tone, and she stupidly looks at it. Oh, right. That's why.

“Kel Bell” has texted her, and Alex scrunches her nose at the cutesy name. She usually changes it to “Kelley O’Hara” when she's mad, sometimes “Don’t Answer” when she's really mad. This probably goes beyond that.

Alex hadn't heard from her since Kelley slipped out the door thinking she didn't wake her until she texted her two hour ago. Every part of her wants the strength to ignore the text just to stick it to her, but some part of her she can't control reaches out to slide the message to read it.

Her eye immediately goes to the text Kelley sent an hour ago, the reason Alex is here on her bathroom floor in the first place. “Hey pretty,” it says. “Sorry I didn't get to stay long this morning. Work.” And a frown emoji. As if Kelley’s ever frowning at work. “Can't do dinner tonight. Working late. Rain check?”

Alex, having no shame in being petty, keeps her read receipts on specifically for these instances, so Kelley knows she read it two hours ago.

“Or not???” reads the new text, and Alex has to laugh. Kelley always fucking knows when she's pissed. Sometimes she pretends she doesn't because she knows it bothers Alex even more and that it'll eventually blow over, but she always knows.

And yet she's so fucking oblivious.

“Rain check on what?” Alex types furiously before she can stop herself or ask Tobin to be her impulse control. “Dinner? Or me turning 27? I know the world revolves around you, but sadly I don't think you can make that part bend to your will.”

She'd throw her phone if it wouldn't a) break and b) draw Tobin’s attention. When Kelley initially stood her up, Tobin had offered to invite Ali and Ashlyn for a makeshift birthday dinner. She’d feel a lot more excited about the premise of hanging out with three of her best friends if it didn't feel like a literal pity party.

She watches as the typing bubbles appear then disappear then reappear, finally disappearing again till they result in a new message.

“Fuck,” it reads. “I'm so sorry, Ali Cat.”

Alex regrets ever bringing her to the family brunch where she learned that nickname. Now she uses it whenever she wants to manipulate Alex into softness.

When the typing bubbles come back, the tiniest part of Alex hopes against her better judgment that her next words are that she's dropping everything and rushing over.

“I'll make it up to you. Promise.”

Alex wipes her tears, fury taking over sadness and betrayal. “Don't bother,” she types back quickly.

Kelley follows through with her promise that weekend, showing up on Alex’s doorstep with that infuriatingly adorable pout and flowers, ready to whisk her away to a hotel an hour away from everything they know for the weekend.

Alex doesn't question the “work calls” she takes late at night as long as she gets to wake up to Kelley’s head on her chest. Her anger dissolves with the first of many Lush bath bombs Kelley bought her in a gift basket as Kelley wraps her arms around her from behind in the enormous Jacuzzi, kissing her neck as she softly massages her shoulders with a sea salt scrub.

And two weeks later, when Kelley bails on her again, she lights candles in her own bathroom and tries to take care of herself the same way.

~

The final straw (shockingly) involves Christen. Maybe several straws involved Christen, but the final one does especially.

For starters, Tobin never would have met Christen if it weren't for Alex being annoyed with Kelley. If Alex hadn't taken her frustration with Kelley out on Christen, Tobin never would have talked to her to apologize.

Alex's sisters wouldn't have put the thought in her head that she should break things off with Kelley if it weren't for her admittedly over-the-top reaction to Tobin dating Christen. God knows how long they'd been thinking it, but they'd always been nice enough to sympathize with Alex instead of scold her for her dysfunctional relationship. 

But the last straw was definitely a direct result of Christen’s existence and infiltration into Alex’s group of friends. Not only had Tobin invited her to trivia night (of all things), she sat her directly across from Kelley, whose jaw had been on the floor since the moment Christen walked in. Alex may have understated her beauty when telling Kelley she's “alright, I guess, nothing special” after that grand opening party at the gym.

It doesn't help that Kelley doesn't know when to stop teasing Alex and let things go. What started as harmless (but really fucking annoying) flirting by Kelley turns into what seems like a way to just get under Alex’s skin. On some level, Alex knows Christen isn't participating or encouraging the flirting in any way, but that doesn't mean she can't blame her when Kelley comes back to the apartment and jokes about inviting Christen for a threesome.

“Jesus, Alex, it was a joke,” Kelley groans, pouring her cereal into a bowl while Alex stews on the couch. She knows going into her room will invite Kelley to follow her, and once they're kissing, she can never stay mad.

“Which one was a joke? Saying you'd date Christen if things don't work out with her and Tobin? Saying I'm on my period to make me look like an idiot? Or saying Christen would spice up our sex life?”

“I technically didn't say she would spice up—”

“Of course your sex life is spicy enough,” Alex says. “I'm sure mine would be too if I slept around.”

“Don't be a bitch.”

“Don't call me a bitch!”

“If the shoe fits,” Kelley says. “This was part of the deal from the beginning. She's always been part of the deal, at least as long as I'm working there.”

“First of all, that's harassment,” Alex says, even though they've had this discussion countless times. Kelley doesn't actually feel like Silvia takes advantage of her, it just doesn't suck to get the perks of banging your boss. But when it comes to sweet-talking Alex out of a fight, Kelley always goes to that first. “And if she told you I was a dealbreaker, you'd drop me in a second.”

“That's not true.”

“It is!” Alex exclaims, her voice raising slightly. “The deal wasn't that you'd use me and screw me and treat me like shit, the deal was that you liked me and I liked you and we’d see where it went.” Her voice shakes. “I waited for you! And all it’s done is fuck me over.”

“I never asked you to do that!” Kelley yells back.

Alex stares at her, stunned. After a moment, she grabs her phone. “Really?” she challenges, scrolling through their texts. “Baby, baby, baby. Last week, ‘I know one day it'll be you and me babe.’ ‘We’re so good together.’ ‘Don't give up on me.’ Yeah, that just screams casual relationship that I shouldn't take too seriously.”

“I meant that!” Kelley says. “But that doesn't mean you have to put your life on hold for me. Maybe one day I'll be ready for a real relationship, but that's not today.”

“You're 27, when do you expect to be ready?”

“Probably when you aren't pressuring me so fucking much.”

“Fine,” Alex says, tears streaming. “No more pressure. You're free. We’re done.”

“Whatever you say, Ali,” Kelley laughs, rolling her eyes.

“I'm not kidding. Get out.”

“Alex,” Kelley says, her face falling. “It was a joke.”

“I can tell,” Alex says. “This whole thing was. I was a joke to you. So haha, here's the punchline. Leave.”

“That's not true,” Kelley says softly. “You are special to me. What we have is important to me. I never wanted—”

“Maybe for once it's not about what you want,” Alex says. “Maybe this time it can be about what I want.”

“You don't want this either, Alex,” Kelley says, keeping her voice even. “You love me.”

Her words are like a knife to Alex’s chest, and the genuinely shocked look on Kelley’s face just twists it deeper. She never imagined Alex would work up the nerve to stand up for herself and leave Kelley. She actually assumed she could string her along forever.

Or maybe she's shocked because she can't believe how upset she is now that it's actually happening, now that Alex is taking back ownership of her own life and not allowing Kelley to determine her steps.

“Yeah,” Alex says. “Unfortunately that's not something I can control. But I can control this part. Get out of my apartment.”

Alex thinks the most awful sound she'll hear is when Kelley slams the door behind her, but it's not, it's the silence that follows and the echo of her room when she goes to bed not long after. Her room is used to being just that much more full, and Kelley’s absence is deafening.

~

Getting over someone you were never really supposed to be “under” is the hardest thing Alex thinks she's ever had to do. She calls in sick to work on the first day and goes home at lunch the next day, barely able to function in public.

She gives herself the weekend to wallow, but on Sunday morning, she makes a list of things she knows will make her feel better, and she sets off to check them off one by one. 

First, she cleans the apartment from top to bottom, scrubbing the floors as if there's some part of Kelley still remaining. In a lot of ways, there is. She can't get rid of the feeling of staring at the ceiling in her bedroom, whispering about the past and the future and everything in between, or the mornings in the kitchen with coffee and sleepy eyes, but she can get rid of the sheets Kelley slept on and the mugs she drank from, which she does gladly.

The next thing on her list is getting into shape, so she swallows her pride and goes to the gym. She doesn't expect Christen to be as kind as she is, especially after Alex treated her so poorly, but what else could she expect from Tobin’s girlfriend? She's the best judge of character Alex has ever met.

The thing that really makes Alex think she could be on her way to getting over Kelley, though, is meeting her new trainer, a gorgeous Mexican man named Servando with a smooth voice and exactly the type of body you'd expect of a person who works out for a living.

She flirts as hard as she can, but he seems completely oblivious to it, even going so far as to suggest that he set her up with a co-worker of his. She figures out later, when she stalks him on Instagram, that he has a beautiful long-term girlfriend who Alex unabashedly thirst-follows.

“It's probably a sign that you should take some time for you,” Tobin reasonably suggests when Alex tells her.

Alex figures she's right, and she throws everything into work and training, feeling the most productive she has in years.

And also the loneliest. Tobin is a great best friend, always making sure to include Alex, but Alex doesn't have much interest in being the third or fifth wheel all the time. She joins Tinder but deletes it as soon as she happens upon Kelley’s profile, realizing that the only thing worse than being desperate enough for Tinder is Kelley knowing she's desperate enough for Tinder.

She presses Servando for details about this co-worker, but he seems genuinely perplexed about her curiosity, claiming that it would be bad luck for her to know anything about the woman before a blind date. When she finally folds, agreeing to the date, she prefaces it by saying she's not looking for anything serious, and he assures her he’ll pass the message along. Still, she finds herself getting butterflies in her stomach at the thought of what could happen. Maybe she had to go through this horrible heartbreak in order to find the love of her life.

When Serv texts her the details, she laughs out loud because it has to be a joke. Her life could not be more ironic.

“Andina at 8 tomorrow,” it reads. Of course it would be the place she and Kelley had their first “date.” But refusing to go there would mean she isn't over Kelley, wouldn't it? And that's the last thing she wants, so she texts Serv back confirming.

“Perfect,” she says. “Let her know it's a date.”

~

By the time Alex is finally ready for the date, she's running at least 15 minutes late, cursing Servando for not giving her the girl’s number so she doesn't think she's being stood up. After trying on six outfits and finally deciding (more like Tobin saying ‘just fucking pick one already’), she had to do her makeup to match and shove all the rejected clothes in her closet, praying that the girl doesn't see if they come back to her place later.

“Tell her I'm coming!” she texts Servando quickly, rushing out the door with her heels in hand, cursing herself for letting herself run barefoot across gravel and concrete just after showering.

She turns the radio up as loud as she can handle without ruining her hearing, preferring that to the nervous thoughts in her own head. Christen would encourage her to sit with those thoughts and meditate before letting them go, but that could take hours, and Alex has barely 15 minutes.

When she finally arrives, she just lets the valet park her car, checking her hair and lipstick in the mirror once more before going inside and approaching the bored-looking hostess who clearly has no idea the part she plays in what Alex has decided will be a life-changing night.

“Hi, I'm meeting someone,” she says. “I'm Alex Morgan, I guess the reservation is supposed to be for me.”

“Sure, right this way,” the hostess says, barely bothering to add any inflection to her voice as she leads Alex through the restaurant and toward a small table where a woman whose head is bent down toward the menu sits alone.

Alex straightens her posture as they approach, and she smiles as genuinely as she can before the woman notices and lifts her head up.

“No,” Alex breathes. This can't really be happening. There's no way in hell Kelley is her date. There's no way in hell Servando—hell, Christen—let this happen. She turns on her heel, walking back toward the door, and Kelley scrambles to her feet to chase after her.

Alex almost breaks into a run when she hears Kelley calling her, emerging outside and looking for the valet to see if she can get her car back before they even park it. Distracted, she misses the second step down and her ankle turns, bringing her down to the concrete in a heap of swear words and shooting pain.

“Alex!” Kelley exclaims, just out of reach where she could stop her from hitting the ground. “Oh my God, are you okay?”

“Don't touch me,” Alex spits, looking down at her hands and welling up with tears when she sees her palms and knees are both skinned, not to mention her right ankle is in the worst pain she's ever felt. Physical pain, anyway.

“Do you have a First Aid kit?” Kelley yells toward the hostess, who followed them outside when the commotion began. The hostess nods, but doesn't move. “Then fucking get it!”

“Don’t yell at her,” Alex says, finally daring to look at her ankle, which is already swelling. “Fuck fuck fuck.”

The hostess returns quickly with the First Aid kit, and a valet brings a bottle of water, which Kelley unscrews for Alex to drink before opening the kit.

“First, ice,” Kelley says, shaking and punching an instant ice pack till it works. “Napkin, guys?” Once she gets the napkin, she takes off Alex’s shoe and lays the napkin as a barrier between Alex’s ankle and the cold pack, but Alex still hisses in pain. “It's probably just a sprain. Don't worry, I've got you. Let me see those hands.”

Against her better judgment, Alex offers her palms to Kelley, who winces. “What?”

“Don't hate me.”

“Too late.”

Kelley rolls her eyes. “I know. But this is going to hurt.”

“Then don't do it!” Alex exclaims.

“Would you rather it sting for a second or get infected and be a much more painful situation in a few days?” Kelley asks.

Alex is silent as she lets Kelley’s words sink in. She would laugh at the irony if she weren't so upset with the situation.

Kelley takes the tweezers from the kit and picks out the big pieces of gravel still lodged in Alex’s skin, making Alex wince a few times, but when she gets out the hydrogen peroxide wipes, she can feel Alex shake in terror.

“I've got you,” Kelley whispers. “Look at me.”

Alex looks Kelley in the eye as she wipes the bloodied skin on her palms, whimpering at the sting. It only makes sense that Kelley would be the one cleaning up this mess, and it definitely makes sense that she would make it hurt more before it stops hurting.

Kelley does the same thing to her knees, letting her palms breathe for a moment before administering Neosporin and gauze and bandages, making Alex feel like she's six years old again.

“There you go,” Kelley says softly. “Now let's look at that ankle.” She takes off the ice pack and pulls back the napkin, cringing when she sees that it's already black and blue. “We might need to go to urgent care or the hospital. It's a Saturday night, so my vote is urgent care.”

“I vote that you tell me what the hell is going on,” Alex demands.

Kelley smiles slightly, glad the old Alex is still in there. “Why don't we talk about it on the way?”

~

They don't get much of a chance to talk between Alex whimpering every few seconds and filling out the paperwork when they get to the closest urgent care. Luckily, they won't go hungry, as the manager offered them both complimentary meals to go (probably in an effort to get them not to sue the restaurant if the injury is serious).

“I don't understand,” Alex says for the twentieth time since Kelley started explaining how this master plan to get them back together all came about. “Why didn't you just call or text me?”

“I did,” Kelley says.

“Oh, I forgot,” Alex says, turning pink. “I blocked your number. But why jump through the hoops of getting a job at the gym and getting Christen and Serv involved?”

“Of course you did,” Kelley laughs. “I can't blame you. And it was their idea. I only got brought into it toward the end, but I wanted to do something romantic to win you back.”

“I'm not a prize to be won.”

“Aladdin,” Kelley says, surprising herself and Alex. Aladdin had been one of the first movies they watched together, mostly because Alex was shocked at Kelley’s lack of Disney movie knowledge. Kelley could never keep her attention on the movie for more than 15 minutes before becoming distracted by Alex’s body. “See? I pay attention.”

Alex scoffs.

“I got the job because when the time came, I wanted you to know I was serious,” Kelley says. “Serious enough to leave my job and end a relationship—if you could call it that—that really wasn't healthy for anyone involved. Worst of all, it hurt you.”

“Your affair with your boss didn’t hurt me, you hurt me,” Alex corrects. “You led me on, you treated me like shit, you manipulated me, you lied to me, and it didn't help that on top of that you were fucking your boss.”

Needless to say, the doctor chooses to enter at that exact moment, clearing her throat before introducing herself and taking a look at Alex’s foot while Kelley sits quietly in the corner.

“It's definitely sprained,” the doctor says. “I could do an X-ray, but I don't have any reason to believe you have any fractures. I know it's no help, but all you can do is rest, ice, compress, and elevate. And take plenty of Motrin.”

“And as far as walking?”

“It won't be pleasant,” the doctor admits. “But the best thing to do with these injuries is to walk on it. It'll suck at first, trust me, I've been there, but it'll get better and hurt less with time.”

Alex, disappointed that she doesn't get a crutch or a wheelchair or anything to gain sympathy for her plight from her boss at work on Monday, walks (well, limps) away with a prescription for what is essentially just ibuprofen, a wrapped ankle, and a beyond-bruised ego.

“I’m really sorry,” Kelley says after she helps Alex into the car. “This was a bad idea.”

“You think?” Alex scoffs, motioning to her ankle.

“Okay, you’re wearing those shoes you always fall in, though,” Kelley protests. “How many times have I told you to get rid of them?”

Alex rolls her eyes even though she knows Kelley is right. “In my defense, it’s usually when I’m drunk.” She pauses, and Kelley is silent, waiting for her to say something. “It wasn’t a bad idea. It was actually kind of sweet.”

Kelley looks at her like she’s crazy before collecting herself. “Oh. Yeah, well.”

“We just want different things,” Alex says. “Looking back, of course you hurt me, but you didn’t mean to. I want to fall in love and get married and maybe even have kids one day. And I loved you, so I was focusing all that energy on you even though we both know that’s not what you want.”

“Al—”

“It’s okay,” she says. “I mean, it’s not. I’m still hurt and I’m still upset, but I still love you—as a person—and I don’t want to just cut you out of my life. I just needed a little bit of time.”

“You’re wrong,” Kelley says. “I mean, you’re right to an extent, I didn’t want any of that. Well, maybe I did and I didn’t know it, but when I left your apartment that night—” She doesn’t have to say which night she means. “—I realized it doesn’t matter what I don’t want because I do want you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You want all these things, and maybe the thought of a real relationship and falling in love freaked me out, but being with you never freaked me out, and before I knew it I did fall in love with you,” she says in a rush, worried Alex will interrupt her again. “And it sounds so goddamn cliche, but it would have been too cheesy to go back in and confess my love for you, and you were crying, and I was crying, and—”

Alex sits in stunned silence, staring at Kelley. Her mind is a million different places, and she sees Kelley’s lips moving, but all she hears over and over in her head is Kelley saying “I did fall in love with you.” The thing that’s most shocking, she thinks, is how much it hurts to hear it, like the night when Alex ended things, but tenfold. Her heart has spent the last few months healing, forming scar tissue everywhere the pain was, and with that revelation, it’s as if Kelley undid it all.

Tears stream down Alex’s face as she laughs despite herself. 

“Are you okay?” Kelley asks slowly. She’s seen Alex laugh and she’s seen Alex cry, but she’s never seen whatever this is.

“You’re my ankle,” Alex laughs through the tears. “I can’t believe this. You’re my fucking ankle.”

Kelley raises an eyebrow. “Did she give you medicine in there, or…”

“She said the best thing to do is walk on it,” Alex says, repeating the doctor’s words. “It’ll hurt for a little bit, but then it’ll be all better. You’re my ankle.”

“I’m your ankle,” Kelley repeats slowly. “Which means what exactly?”

“I have no idea,” Alex says. “Maybe being with you is like walking, and it’s really hard to live without it. Maybe it’s a terrible analogy. I’m sorry, I don’t know why I can’t stop crying. Or laughing.”

“I think you’re overwhelmed,” Kelley suggests, twisting open the bottle of water in the cupholder between them. “Drink.”

Alex takes a few long gulps of water, collecting herself slowly as she breathes normally again. “Why should I believe you when you say you love me?”

“I… I don’t know,” Kelley says. “You probably shouldn’t. I wouldn’t if I were you. All I know is I’ve never felt this way before, and not being with you has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I don’t know what to tell you, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. I just needed you to know it wasn’t one-sided.”

“Isn’t,” Alex says softly.

“What?”

“It isn’t one-sided,” she corrects. “You said past tense. But I still love you. So if you still love me…”

“I do,” Kelley says.

“Then it’s not one-sided,” Alex says, leaning across the console to kiss Kelley. She puts her weight into it, her hand resting on Kelley’s leg as their lips connect, both women breathing sighs of what feels a lot like relief.

Kelley is the one to break away first, watching Alex as the enormity of what they just did washes over her. “So.”

“So,” Alex says, touching her lips. “I missed that.”

“Me too,” Kelley agrees. “But I hurt you, and I don’t want to do that again.”

“Yeah, I don’t want you to do that again either,” Alex says. “I love you, but I don’t think I trust you.”

Kelley nods solemnly.

“Maybe we can go on a date,” Alex says. “One that doesn’t end up in urgent care. Or in my bed.”

“What a foreign concept,” Kelley jokes. “Okay. A date. Where?”

“Not Andina,” Alex says. “I’m never showing my face there again. Maybe we can… get coffee. Or go see a movie. Or go for a hike.”

“Or all of the above,” Kelley suggests.

“Or all of the above,” Alex agrees.

“Can I kiss you on the date?”

“We’ll see how it goes,” Alex says, moving her hand away from Kelley’s thigh. “Please don’t break my heart.”

“I’ll do my best,” Kelley says, her stomach tightening.

Alex sighs, wanting nothing more than to kiss Kelley again, but she resists, buckling her seatbelt instead. Kelley takes the hint and turns the car on, shifting it to drive as she navigates toward Alex’s apartment. The car is quiet save for the music on low volume. Alex thinks she recognizes it as one of her own playlists, and she reaches for Kelley’s hand, which she squeezes before letting it go to hold loosely the rest of the way.

A few minutes into the drive, Alex groans, alarming Kelley, who whips her head to the side to make sure she’s okay.

“What? What’s up?”

“I just realized when we tell people about this I’ll have to thank Christen for getting her nosy perfect yoga instructor ass involved.”


End file.
